the winter storms halt deliveries of covid vaccine. president biden recommits to opening schools by the end of april-- but will vaccinating teachers be required to get kids back in the classroom? the confusion, tonight. meant for medical facilities seized by federal agents. how to tell if your mask is real or fake. remembering rush limbaugh, the most listened-to radio host, a deeply polarizing figure, and the leading voice in conservative media for a generation, dies at 70. actress rescued. the grueling 55-hour journey after breaking her leg in the rainforest. who ashley judd credits for saving her life. s froth of themerica, a group of political divide come together in the spirit of unity.

this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening, and thank you for joining us. we're going to begin with breaking news. the deadly winter weather emergency unfolding across texas and much of the south is becoming even more dangerous tonight, with millions of americans heading into another night of brutal cold, without heat, power or clean water.nyavr help from out-of-state plumbers. as many counties warn their water could be contaminated and it needs to be boiled. at the same time tonight, frustration is boiling over for more than 2.5 million texansillt could be days before power is restored. at least 24 people have been killed so far by the deep freeze and while the storm system that caused all this devastation is moving out, another one is moving in. tonight, one-third of all americans are in the path of

another storm that is now sweeping toward the east coast. it could be parts of the south's frozen under an inch thick sheet of ice and the northeast under half a foot of snow. cbs's lonnie quinn is tracking the forecast for us. our team is standing by with new reporting for you and your family. hit houston.shamlian is going t- >> ror n, ng, janet. evening. this is a life threatening humanitarian crisis and it is growing by the hour. families all over the state doing whatever they can to stay warm and sometimes making deadly choices. the snow here is gone now but the bitter cold remains. tonight, a crisis in texas. millions in the dark with no heat for a third day. lines of misery for food and gas, and now, millions without running water. frozen pipes bursting, flooding homes, and this winter apocalypse, icicles inside a dallas apartment building. >> it's been a little crazy.

i mean, i think we did our best to prepare. >> reporter: steven and laura dandridge have been living in the dark for most of the past three days, with their year-oldt it's so cold there storing>> wt. >> reporter: almost three million texans are still without power. a boil water for houston and dozens of other cities, but in hard hit areas there is no water to boil, the taps are dry. more than half of the state's 254 counties experiencing water problems. harris county judge lena hidalgo compares it to 2017 hurricane harvey. >> this is very different from harvey, but the scope of the impact is absolutely equivalent. and it's something that is impacting not just the millions plhereharris county but , hureds have been ten hls witcn monoxide poisoning, burning a grill inside, or keeping a car

running in a garage. three children and their grandmother died in this fire. authorities say they had been using a fireplace overnight. in the search for food, lines to get grocermpn on gas. tonight, questions about whether ercot, the utility overseeing the texas grid, was ready. >> i'm sure as we review this, you know, when it's over, we're going to find things we wish we had done better. right now, the number one priority is getting people's power back on. getting that service restored. >> reporter: but that isn't happening quickly and local officials are warning outages could last through the weekend. the governor calling for an investigation of ercot and resignations. there was never a contingency plan for the entire state beings r arningllmmissiere is warning oufood supply n probketaas nevnl inducts. norah. >> o'donnell: scary for so many families there, janet.

thank you. and all that snow and ice is headed east. cbs's lonnie quinn is tracking the storm, hey there, lonnie. >> good evening, norah, and good evening, everyone. i believe that ice is the most treacherous thing that mother nature can put down. and right now, if i can takek.yo all right, from we're talking i- 20, from the western portion of louisiana all the way to the eastern portion of mississippi it is ice that we're dealing with on that roadway and that is so treacherous. the most important thing we can address is how much longer and the computer model suggest about five hours more of that icing event. all the while, south of it, a tornado risk along the gulf coast. that storm system is going to move into the mid-atlantic by tomorrow. so north carolina to maryland, you are looking at the mixed now aroundreezing ra maryland, and it becomes all snow on friday as it makes its way into new england. so how much snow? for places like washington, philadelphia, modest, maybe 3 to 6 inches; new york city, about 6 to 9 inch range.

but i have got to leave you with this, there is light at the end of the tunnel. the cold will snap in the south t is still cold in san antonio on saturday morning when are you starting off your day in san antonio, 26 on saturday, it is 63 by monday, and norah, io e m. >> o'donnell: i know, my hometown, those warm days can't come soon enough, thank you. and the c.d.c. is now warning those winter storms mean widespread vaccine delay just as vaccinations were starting to pick up steam. in some places the weather is canceling appointments. we get more from cbs's mola lenghi. >> reporter: the storms that have paralyzed so much of the u.s. have also frozen out vaccine delivery. shipments are running as many as 48 hours behind schedule in hard hit texas, just 9 percent of the doses the state was expecting this week have been shipped. moderna unable to ship any doses to the lone star state.

>> there are certain parts of the country, texas being one of them, where vaccination sites are understandably closed. >> reporter: the crunch now acute in the nation's most populous city, which could run out of first doses by tonight. >> supply, supply, supply. >> reporter: new york city mayor bill de blasio. inw, wrethis ridiculous >> rorter: bidenad who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by the end of july. "just be patient," says dr. anthony fauci. >> the cure of all of this is when the supply-demand gap closes. as we get into the later months, april, may, june and july, i think those kind of discrepancies and deficits are going to disappear. a00ore covid hs just in the month. and tonight major news from pfizer-- a study showing its vaccine is significantly less effective against the variant first discovered in south africa. that variant is now in at least ten states, and the concern over

variants is fueling the race to vaccinate. that is especially important in under-served areas like east los angeles. in many here are essential workers like susan hernandez, a grocery store cashier. >> we have been on the front line for over a year now. and we have not gotten any kind of protection as far as getting vaccinated. >> reporter: on tuesday a fema megasite opened in her neighborhood. she was one of the first in line. >> whooo hoo! i'm excited. >> reporter: some of those same disparities are playing out here in new york city. new data shows that the hardest hit neighborhoods had the fewest number of vaccinations. and making matters worse, some sites, like this one here in brooklyn, have stopped taking appointments altogether after running out of the first dose of vaccine, norah. you so much. turning now to another pressing issue for the country, when can children get back in the classroom?

tonight, president biden says when that happens will depend on passage of his stimulus plan. cbs's nancy cordes reports from the white house. >> the federal government has to chip in, make sure we get this done. >> reporter: president biden pushing his relief bill argues it will help schools reopen sooner. >> the goal will be five days a week. >> reporter: that goal is more ambitious than the 100-day goal the white house laid out just last week, of in-person schooling at least one day a week for children in k-8. >> that's not true. it was a mistake in the communication. >> reporter: white house press secretary jen psaki. >> certainly when i said one day a week it was our floor, not our ceiling. >> reporter: one key will be getting teachers their shots. >> in-person teaching must be safe for everyone. e a blic pushconnecticut today. the president supports prioritizing teachers. >> we should move them up in the hierarchy. >> reporter: it is a view he shares with 76% of americans. but right now the white house is

leaving it up to the states. can't you mandate that states prioritize teachers? >> we can provide federal guide lines, which is exactly what we have done. but that is not how the processes work, and i don't anticipate it is how it would work moving forward. >> reporter: so far just 21 states and d.c. have moved all of their teachers to the front of the line. aimee fortin teaches third grade in colorado. >> i'm reall that stops, just being with my classroom, it is worrisome but i would that i would be the cause would that i would be the cause of spreading it? of spreading it? >> reporter: late this afternoon we learned that president biden had finally held his first phone call with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who famously had a close relationship with president trump, and a rockier one with president obama-- a dynamic that could help explain why this white house kept him waiting for nearly a month. norah. >> o'donnell: nancy cordes, care workere sti clamoring

for n95 mask and t deral agenei warehouse full of them-- all fake. turns out, millions have been sold to unwitting hospitals around the country. cbs's jeff pegues with more on the investigation. >> reporter: today federal agents seized one million counterfeit masks in this western maryland warehouse. what they uncovered is pallets full of fake n95 masks headed to the front lines in the battle against covid-19, washington state hospital system spent 8 million dollars on n95 masks that turned out to be fake. they actually passed their inspection process because they looked like the real thing. >> they are really, really good fakes. they look, they fit, they breathe, they wear like a real 3m, n95 mask. >> reporter: in nt approximately 11 million counterfeit n95 masks have been

seized in five states, and while the packaging says that these are the coveted 3m, n95 masks they aren't. today, department of homeland security officials allege that the fake masks are coming from china. >> they are extremely dangerous, they are providing a false sense of security to our first line responders. >> reporter: if you put themthe tell the real thing from the fake may be the code at the bottom of the mask, which 3m says can help verify its authenticity. >> they're not interested in making high-quality products that protect wearers. they're interested in making as many counterfeit products as they can, as quickly and cheaply as possible. >> reporter: by the way, washington state's hospital system doesn't know if it is going to get that $8 million back. norah.lion bac >> o'donnell: and jeff, in order to tell if your mask is fake, what do you do with the code th's on those masks? >> reporter: yeah, the best thing to do is take that code,

go to the 3m website, they have that is how you will know that it is the real thing. >> o'donnell: jeff pegues, thank you. conservative talk radio icon rush limbaugh died today of lung cancer. he just turned 70 years old. cbs's jim axelrod has a look back. >> i was stunned and i was in denial. >> reporter: on his final radio show of 2020, rush limbaugh seemed to be preparing his listeners for the inevitable as he reflected on his terminal lung cancer diagnosis. >> i mean, i'm rush limbaugh. this can't be right. but it was. >> reporter: born in cape girardeau, missouri, limbaugh was a college dropout, drawn to ter struggling as a disc jockey, he turned to talk, parlaying a string of local jobs into a syndicated gig in 1988 by talking conservative politics about race, feminism, and every other hot-button issue in a way his supporters loved... >> the feminazis on the far left. >> reporter: ...and making claim

alleging michael j. fox was exaggerating his parkinson's for instance, that critics hated. >> it is purely an act. >> reporter: he did it while building a media empire on brash and outspoken style. >> i don't defer to the experts, i am the expert. >> reporter: it made him the country's most listened to radio host and earned him a fortune, estimated at more than $500 million. >> i mean, everybody does what they do for the money. if somebody tells you it is not the money, believe me, it's the money. >> reporter: an opioid addiction and the rehab that followed in 2003 briefly took him off the air. but everything rush limbaugh did engendered controversy. maybe nothing more than getting the presidential medal of freedom at the state of the union address last year. >> destroying the very culture. >> reporter: one of the loudest, most provocative voices on the national scene in the last three plus decades is now silence.

>> thank you. >> reporter: jim axelrod, cbs news. >> o'donnell: and there is still much more news ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news." britain's 99-year-old prince philip is in the hospital. prine philip is in the hospital. the latest on his the latest on his condition. plus, actress ashley judd on her near-fatal accident in a remote rainforest, and new images of the dramatic rescue. matic rescu. lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs.

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>> o'donnell: tonight, britain's prince philip is being treated in a london hospital. buckingham palace says the prince, who is 99 years old and married to queen elizabeth, had not been feeling well for a few days. he was admitted for observation and rest. we're told his illness is not related to the coronavirus. actress ashley judd, who was seriously injured during a research project in the congo, is sharing new images of her rescue. inudteri he sereue, sayiin, saved both her leg and her life. and, coming up next, "unifying america." what happened when red state republicans meet blue state liberals? well, you might be surpris

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-yes. -the answer is no. i can help new homeowners not become their parents. -kee-on-oh... -nope. -co-ee-noah. -no. -joaquin. -no. it just takes practice. give it a shot. [ grunts, exhales deeply ] -did you hear that? -yeah. it's a constant battle. we're gonna open a pdf. who's next? progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. no fussin', no cussin', and no -- >> o'donnell: all right, these days, people on opposite ends of the political spectrum rarely seek common ground. but, a remarkable effort has brought some of them together, even during a pandemic.

mark strassmann continues our series, "unifying america." >> reporter: three years ago, pre-pandemic, 11 kentucky conservatives rode a bus for 15 hours, all to meet the massachusetts liberals. >> we had folks within our community that said you are crazy if you get on that van and go up there. >> reporter: letcher county, kentucky, is coal country. potically, it's lte.s? you? >> i was pretty darn suspicious. >> a lot of us wanted to understand the voters who voted for trump. >> reporter: paula green organized hands across the hill, which brought together the two rural communities to work through their differences. >> we try to help each other. that is what americans do. >> let's start with family stories. people were crying within the hour. >> reporter: why? >> crying. because family stories have joy, they also have a lot of shadow. >> reporter: they eventually talked politics.

people on both sides felt insulted, misunderstood. but the gun-lovers and tree- huggers all survived. >> there was much more to agree upon than there was to disagree upon. and we quickly established that. >> reporter: they visited each other three times... >> it is such an important time for us to be together. hearts. >> if we can dive under the vote and get into who the person is, something very different emerges. >> we see things differently. but we deeply care about each d. but we de other. >> reporter: disagreeing agreeably. imagine that in america. mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. >> o'donnell: paula and gwen told us, during the pandemic, the group tries to meet virtually once a month. a reminder that we are more alike than we are different. we'll be right back.

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captioning sponsor ncer: this i overnight news." ncer: this i i'm ben tracy in washington, thanks for staying with us. the snow, ice and bitter cold gripping much of the nation is also making it much harder to distribute covid vaccines. louisville, kentucky, major hub memps, teese, whereon come just

vaccination centers are opening in texas, new york and california. david begnaud reports from one of those sites in los angeles. >> reporter: what makes this unique is that you have active duty military members staffing this site. they're giving every one of the vaccines. this operates seven days a week. you can drive up, heck, you can even walk up if you don't have a car. the key is you need to make an appointment. we were here all day yesterday, and i got to tell you, from what we saw everything ran really smoothly. this is overwhelmingly a latino area in east los angeles. and it was specifically selected to be a vaccine site. ♪ because covid-19 has run through here like a raging wildfire. >> thank you. well done. >> woohoo. i'm excited. >> reporter: meet susan hernandez. >> it's essential for me to get it because my father who lives with me has cancer. my husband is prediabetic, andmi epor she waited inine for almost two hours to get he

e heren los angeles. she says that job at this time makes her feel like -- >> i'm playing roulette with my life. >> reporter: hernandez had covid back in november. she has seen the toll the virus has taken on the latino community. so far, latino californians only account for 16% of the people being vaccinated. while those who are black make up just 3%. white people lead the list at 32%. within the latino community, we have repeatedly heard that there is a concern that people who are undocumented m vaccsite. re's wnithr,to had -- >> wll immigration enforcement operations at or near vaccine sites. >> reporter: the sites in los angeles and oakland are part of president biden's plan to open 100 federally supported vaccine sites. at least eight sites here in california had to close this